MBTA signs off on 600-apartment Quincy Center project

QUINCY – The MBTA on Monday approved a plan to build 600 apartments and 228,000 square feet of commercial space on top of the Quincy Center T station.

The T’s Fiscal and Management Control Board unanimously approved the proposal from the Bozzuto Group and Atlantic Development, a team that’s already undertaking a similar-sized project in North Quincy.

The Quincy Center project would occur in three phases. The first would include relocation of the T’s bus services to the Burgin Parkway side of the station. Then, about 300 apartments would be built on what is now the bus loop, access road and parking lot in front of the station. That development, which would also include retail space and about 250 parking spots, would open in 2023, according to the T.

Phase 2, scheduled for completion by 2027, would involve the land where the station is now. The T will begin demolishing the top three floors of the current Quincy Center T station garage by the end of the winter, and the developers would look to replace those floors with another 300 apartments and 365 parking spots, according to information from the T.

That would be followed by Phase 3 by 2031: an office building and possibly a parking area above the T tracks behind city hall. According to the current proposal, the building would have 225,000 square feet of commercial space.

Atlantic president D.J. MacKinnon has stressed that the details of the proposal may change significantly. The fiscal board granted the developers and T staff 180 days to undertake due diligence and further work out the details.

T real estate manager Janelle Chan, who presented the plan to the fiscal board on Monday afternoon, said that’s to allow the developers and the T to move forward on planning for the development while still having a way out if the project proves unfeasible.

“We can walk away for any reason during this 180-day due-diligence period,” she told the board.

The developers estimate they would spend $10 million to $20 million in improvements to the T infrastructure.

They also likely will seek about $20 million in government subsides – money the fiscal control board wanted to be certain would not come from the T or the Department of Transportation.

“Could be the city,” Chan said.

That is something the city will consider, said Christopher Walker, a spokesman for Quincy Mayor Thomas Koch. He echoed MacKinnon in saying the plans are in their early stages.

“We’re treating it as something of a canvas that can be worked on together,” he said.

Walker said the city will continue to have a say in what is built at the station. Any project would have to follow the guidelines laid out in the city’s urban redevelopment plan that governs projects in Quincy Center.

“Nothing’s going to move forward if the city determines it isn’t appropriate,” he said.

Quincy retains the air rights over T property in the city thanks to a decades-old state law. The council began discussion Monday night on whether to give the T permission to execute the lease, but the matter was tabled when at-large City Councilor Joseph Finn objected. When a city councilor objects to a matter, it’s tabled until the next meeting, which in this case is Monday, Dec. 18.

Hingham-based Atlantic Development and the Bozzuto Group of Washington, D.C., are building on land leased from the T at the agency’s North Quincy station. There, they have permission from the city and the state to build 610 apartments, 50,000 square feet of commercial space and 1,600 parking spots over the next few years. They aim to break ground on a parking garage, the first part of the development, in the second quarter of 2018.

– Sean Cotter covers Quincy for the Ledger. He may be reached by email at scotter@ledger.com or by phone at 617-786-7049. Like the Ledger page on Facebook to follow more South Shore news.